Engine



.7752. 52w! m \k 3? ATTORNEY A. R. STANLEY.

ENGINE. APPLICATION FILED MAY 24. 1919.

3 SHEET5SHEET 1.

WITNESSES Patented Mar. 30, 1920.

A. R. STANLEY.

ENGtNE. APPLICATION FILED MAY 24. 919.

3 SHEETS-SHEE1' 2.

ATTORNEYS Patented Mar. 30, 1920 A. R. STANLEY.

ENGINE.

APPLICATION HLiU MAY 24. 19M]. 1,335,61 8, Patented Mar. 30, 1920.

Q5 3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

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F H l K J\\ a Q WITNESSES INVENTOH S r1 r ABBA-M B. STANLEY, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

ENGINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 30, 1920.

Application filed May 24, 1919. Serial No. 299,602.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ABRAM R. STANLEY, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Boston in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and Improved Engine, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to a rotary engine, and aims to provide an improved device of this nature in which the expansive force of steam may be utilized to rotate a driven element from which power may be derived.

A further object of this invention is to provide a cut-ofi' in conjunction with an engine, which shall be capable of varying the quantity of expansive fluid acting upon the driven element.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of a cut-off which may beso regulated as to permit a sufiicient quantity of expansive fluid to be injected into an engine to keep the same at a nearly constant speed, even although the load may be varied.

Havin these objects in view, reference is bad to t e three attached sheets of drawings which illustrate one practical embodlment of my invention, and in which- Figure 1 is a side view;

Fig. 2 is another side view with the exterior casing removed;

Fig. 3 is a front view;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line 4-4 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a side elevational view of the cut-off control; and

Figs. 6, 7 and 8 are three views showing the device in operation, with the cut-off controlling valve in its three difierent posilons.

In all these figures like reference numerals designate similar parts, and the reference numeral 1 indicates the exterior casing through which extends an axle 2 to which is keyed a rotor 3 provided with a piston 4.

Between the interior faces of the casing 1 and the rotor 3 there is provided the usual packing, such, for instance, as indicated at 5. Slidably mounted within the casing 1 and controlled by means of a spring, such as 6, is a sliding abutment 7 which operates in a well-known manner to eliminate back pressure, by insuring the exhaustion of all steam within the expansion chamber formed to the rear of the piston 4 through the exhaust pipe 8.

An inlet pipe 9 is provided upon the opposite side of the sliding abutment 7, and

the inflow of the expansive medium into the chamber formed at the rear of the piston 4 is controlled by means of a valve, designated by the reference numeral 10, which valve may be of any suitable form.

It is to be appreciated that in every power-driven device utilizing the expansive force of an element, such as steam, it would be impracticable to permit this element to be introduced into the cylinder during the entire power stroke of the piston, as most of the expansive force would be lost in this instance. The foregoing also holds good with respect to rotary engines of the type illustrated in the attached sheets of drawings. To control the inflow of fluid passed about the valve 10,1 have provided an automatic control for this valve, which includes a valve stem 11, which is preferablysquare so that the housing 12 formed with a single opening, such as 13, in which the stem 11 projects, may not be rotated with respect to the stem 11, although these two parts may be moved longitudinally with respect to one another.

The rotor 3 has secured to its outer face a ringshaped abutment conforming to the exterior edge of the rotor. This abutment is preferably a single piece of material, the upper surface of which is divided into three distinct planes, such as 14:, 15 and 16. The abutment may be secured to the rotor 3 by means of clamping screws 17 projecting through slots 18 formed in the ring-shaped abutment, which will permit of an adjustment of the abutment with respect to the rotor 3, if this should 'become necessary. Secured to the housing 12, and preferably integral therewith, is a tongue 19 which engages with its end the outer face of the ring-shaped abutment. As clearly disclosed in Figs. 2, 6, 7 and 8, a spring 20 has one ef'its ends secured to a projection 21 ex tending from the housing 12 at an opposite point to the tongue 19. The opposite end of such spring is preferably secured to the casing, so that the tongue 19 may now be swung inwardly against the exterior face of the ring-shaped abutment.

A housing 22 extends from the casing 1 around the housing 12. Mounted upon and extending through the upper end of the housing 22 is a stem 23 formed with a shouldered lower end 24 which abuts against the upper end of the housing 12 and is retained in this position by means of a cap 25 secured to the housing 12, as for instance, by means of lugs 26. In this connection, I wish it understood, however, that I may employ any arrangement which will permit of the housing 12 being fixed to the stem 23 with respect to the longitudinal motion but permit of rotational movement of one with respect to the other. Mounted upon the upper face of the housing 22, as, for instance, by bolts 27, is a collar 28 which is formed with a three-step groove 29, for a purpose hereinafter more fully specified. A pin 30 is secured by any convenient arrangement to the stem 23, and the end of this pin projects through and engages the groove 29 so that upon the handle 31, which is secured to the outer end of the stem 23, being rotated the stem will be moved inwardly or outwardly by virtue of the engagement of the pin 30 with the groove 29; it being understood that by virtue of the construction illustrated the tongue 19 will not be rotated upon the handle 31 being swung.

Having now described the parts illustrated, it will be seen in operation that the steam enters through the pipe 9, and after a sufficient quantity has entered the chamber formed to the rear of the piston 4: the valve 10 will prevent the influx of further expansive medium by means of an operation hereinafter more fully specified. The sliding abutment 7 will insure the expelling of the expansive medium through the pipe 8 and, hence, prevent any back pressure which might otherwise come into being.

Referring now to the control of the cutoil, or valve, 10, it will be noted-assuming that the engine is working under a heavy load and that the handle 31 is swung to such a position that the housing 12 and its integral tongue will be in the position illustrated in Figs. 4 and 6,that the tongue 19 will be held so that the valve 10 will be open for the greater part of the revolution of the rotor 3. In fact, the expansive force of the steam employed in connection with this engine would be utilized in its greatest part only from the time that the plane 16 of the circular abutment had passed beyond the tongue 19 and the point where the plane 14 of such abutment engages the same, and again cause the valve 10 to open.

Assuming now that the engine was not running on a full load, and a medium amount of steam only was necessary, it will be'appreciated that upon rotating the handle 31 so that the pin 30 rests upon the central step of the groove 29, this rotational movement would cause the housing 12 to be moved upwardly, carrying with it the tongue 19, so that although the tongue would be rocked and retained in the positlon illustrated in Fig. 2, while the planes 14 and 15 of the circular abutment were passing the end of the same, the tongue 19 would overlap the plane 16 of the circular abutment and, consequently, the expansive force of the steam could be utilized between the end of the plane 15 and the front part of the circular abutment, beginning with plane 14. This function is clearly shown in Fig. 7, where the ton e is about to swing back to its normal position with the assistance of the spring 20 after the planes 14 and 15 of the circular abutment have passed the same.

On the other hand, if the engine is running under a very light load only, the handle 31 might be rotated so that the pin 30 would engage the uppermost step of the groove 29. This would cause the housing 12 and its attached tongue 19 to be moved to their uppermost position, which would be such that the outer end of the tongue would. be engaged by the plane 14 of the circular abutment only, and the expansive force of the driving, medium employed would carry the rotor, by virtue of its acting upon the piston 4, through approximately three-quarters of the complete revolution.

I wish it understood that I have, for the sake of simplicity, shown a single inlet and outlet only in connection with myiimproved engine cut-ofl', but that any number of inlet and exhaust pipes might be utilized, together with a corresponding number of valves 10 and. tongues 19. In this case, it will be appreciated, the circular abutment would extend through a proportionately smaller part of the rotor, and that its planes would also be proportionately shorter. 7

Further, the circular abutment may include any number of planes, corresponding to any number of steps to be employed in connection with the groove 29.

Finally, any number of variations which I might find practical in connection with this construction may be utilized without in the least departing from the scope of the invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I desire to claim is:

1. An engine, including a casing, a rotor within such casing, such casing being provided with an inlet and an exhaust opening, a .valve for controlling the inlet opening, means mounted upon such rotor for holdin the valve open, and a tongue associated with the valve and adapted to engage such means, such tongue being capable of being moved so as to engage to a greater or lesser extent the valve opening means. 7 1 V 2. An engine, including a casing, a rotor within such casing, said casing being pro vided with an inlet and an exhaust openmg,

a valve for controlling the inlet opening, a rin -shaped abutment secured to such rotor an having its upper surface subdivided into a number of distinct planes, and a tongue associated with the valve adapted to engage such abutment whereby to open the valve, such tongue being capable of being moved so as to engage certain planes only of the circular abutment.

3. An engine, including a casing, a rotor within such casing, said casing being provided with an inlet and an exhaust opening, a valve for controlling the inlet opening, a circular abutment adjustably mounted upon the rotor, such circular abutment having its upper surface divided into a number of? distinct planes, and a tongue associated with the valve for opening and closing the same, such tongue being adapted to be moved in such a manner as to engage certain of said planes only.

4. An engine, including a casing, a rotor within such casing, an abutment secured to the rotor, the upper surface of such abutment presenting a munber of distinct planes, a valve controlling the inflow of fluid into the casing, a tongue associated with such valve, and means for moving such ton 1c in such a manner as to engage any num er of the planes of the abutment.

5. An engine, including a casing, a rotor within such casing, such casing being formed with inlet and outlet passages. an abutment, having its upper surface subdivided into a number of distinct planes, mounted upon such rotor, a valve for controlling the inflow of fluid through the inlet opening, a tongue associated with such valve and contacting against the outer surface of the abutment for operating the valve, a stem secured to such valve, a handle associated with the upper end of such stem, a casing surrounding the same, such casing being formed with a stepped groove, and a pin projecting from said stem and through the groove whereby upon a turning of the handle the stem and the tongue of the Valve would be moved outward or downward and the tongue caused to engage a greater or lesser part of the circular abutment.

6. An engine, including a casing, a rotor within such casing, said casing being provided with an inlet and exhaust opening, a valve for controlling the inlet opening, and means associated with said valve for engaging the rotor during part of its revolution for holding the valve open, said means being so constructed that the time of such opening may 'be varied through a number of distinct successive ranges.

ABRAM R. STANLEY. 

